Hey

I've only just watched DoN's slowmotion movies with the FXO and the RB4 and it occurred to me that I had been posting about a similar topic a while back in RSC.
Just to bring up my idea again:
I wonder if any of you remembers the car show off videos from Need For Speed 1. I remember at that time, I totally digged those. (and guess what, my favorite was the Toyota Supra video. It was so very cool)
They were really done in a stylish yet mature way, showing drifts, quick road scenes or just nice upclose camera pans/shots that gave the cars a character and soul. While the game was obviously very "arcadish" and the physics simple, the videos and the flair conveyed by those still made every car feel special.

Now seing those videos from DoN, they come very close to my idea of showing off every car in its own special way.
I'd love to see those kinds videos in LFS as well. As we have almost only fictional cars in LFS which nobody can really relate to in the first place, a special video showing off the car's traits, accentuated by some cool and fitting music, might just help a great deal to "get to know" and "get to like" a certain car more.
These should be rather short but somehow make you want to try the car because of it's special features.

I've created a list of pro's and con's for integrating those videos into LFS:

pro
- better identification of players with cars
- cars will have a certain "soul" and "depth" to them
- the beauty of every car's special handling can be adressed in those videos
- those videos might serve to get newbies hooked with LFS
- the videos could be made available ingame as well as online on the LFS website. Basically we have a cars&tracks section now. Currently we have 4 screenshots showing off the car. Now imagine that with a simple click, you could see that car in action, in all its beauty
- a little "show factor" would do LFS good in terms of accessibility and promotion and will definitely attract those who are hesitant in trying LFS
- videos on a website are quick to download and quick to watch. The effort of downloading a video is much less than downloading and installing a game, setting it up properly and then trying a small part of it (demo (which might not even be representative)).
I personally would be much more tempted to actually try a game when a well-done video whet my appetite to try it

contra
- someone would have to create the videos obviously
- the videos shouldn't be too large (should they be included in the LFS download or just optional?) and hence shouldn't be very long (max ~1 minute)
- the background music tracks would have to be licensed if included in a commercial product. Maybe V³ could help out with some awesomely cool homegrown songs for each car here? :P

So, that's my suggestion basically. Does anyone else like the idea? Would anybody be interested in joining the party and create a movie for the car of his/her choice?
Just to let you know: I'd volunteer for the RB4

Hope to receive constructive criticism on this. I really think this could help to promote and advertise LFS. Heck, those videos could even be used as jaw-droppers for example in forums/chats/magazines (or whatever) all across the web...

So long....

biggie

1. Better .avi, replays don't have predefined cam-angles. Or music.
2. Good idea. Make those demo'ers wet their mouth for the good cars.

Vain

I thinks thats a good idea!

It does work....i watched a recent video about the Race-about and i didnt really like the car too much but decided to give it another go...i now find the car entertaining to drive..and also i think its a very stylish looking car!

OT:
i also like the short NFS1/2 car showcase movies and inspired by that ive done the raceabout ad

http://lfs-news.bluepixel.dk/m ... t/default.asp?movieid=561

Good idea. Making those vids is definately very time taking so they should be done by the community. I would prefer some kind of all-around LFS showcase/trailer movie, which would show the cars and tracks same it shows other good things in LFS.

ps. Some models aren't 100% finished yet, e.g. like RB4.

Quote from vain :

1. Better .avi, replays don't have predefined cam-angles. Or music.

I agree with vain on this. It would be up to the devs to include a function to record camera positions/paths/pans so those "videos" could be reproduced ingame. The music could probably be played back and matched to the ingame video while it's playing, but still this would require additional work from the devs. The hardcoded movie solution would be the easier way to go because the community resources can be used here

Quote from deggis :

ps. Some models aren't 100% finished yet, e.g. like RB4.

Yep, those final videos probably should be done once the models are 100% finished. Anyway, as of now, the majority of the cars seem finished already (except for the interiors maybe, which might affect onboard shots)

Quote from Don :

OT:
i also like the short NFS1/2 car showcase movies and inspired by that ive done the raceabout ad

http://lfs-news.bluepixel.dk/m ... t/default.asp?movieid=561

WTF :jawdrop: That video is so freakin' nice DoN! Love it! Imo, that's exactly the style those videos should have.
Maybe the vid could still include a short onboard shot, as the interior of the RAC is really worth showing. Also it might give the driver an actual impression of how the car feels and handles from the driver's perspective.
Also I'd love to see a shot showing the car's specs and features - like it does in the RB4 slowmotion video.

If we are to coordinate and gather in making these videos for the LFS cars, we should agree on certain aspects of these videos. I'd personally see this video as a reference, still I'd like to bring the points I criticized about it into discussion.
And probably those videos could even be 10-20 seconds longer, what do you think?

There's one quite important thing I'm wondering about: do we have the devs support on this? What do they think of this?

Quote from biggie :

There's one quite important thing I'm wondering about: do we have the devs support on this? What do they think of this?

Probably not too thrilled. They don't seem to care much about the PR things in LFS.

I think it's a good idea, for when all the car and track models are completely complete, which they aren't yet. I think it's too trivial to think about as of yet to be honest.

I'd like to see it make it into LFS, it was cool to have it in NFS1 (the only NFS ever that remotely tried to simulate reality to a believable extent).

On Topic:
Hmm....not sure on this one. A video for each vehicle. Say 7MB per video. That adds up quickly...

Off Topic:

Quote from deggis :

Probably not too thrilled. They don't seem to care much about the PR things in LFS.

I'm sorry , but I disagree. The devs do care about PR.

By not pimping, talking about or showing off too much they raise any expectation and curiousity level in the community (See pre-S2 alpha hype). As they have regularly beaten many of our expectations in the past, we tell our friends. They catch the LFS bug (possibly), and then they get their friends curious about the mysterious nature of LFS.

We all want to know about things we cant know about, cant do, cant try. Why do you think there are so many drug addicts in the world? LFS is just one more addiction that we cant havem when we want.

Its a brilliant marketing campaign if you ask me, regardless of whether its intentional or not. And yes it is marketing, because they've gone out and found out what we want, not just what they want and what they think we want.

Quote from the_angry_angel :

On Topic:
Hmm....not sure on this one. A video for each vehicle. Say 7MB per video. That adds up quickly...

Yep, you're right. 7x18=126 MB already. That's just the size of the whole S2 download :/
Those videos should probably not be included in the download then. Maybe put a button into LFS that will stream the videos on demand and maybe even save them permanently so they can be re-watched later.
Or maybe on the initial startup of LFS, there could be an option for the user to decide whether to download the additional videos or not.

Anyway, I think those videos should definitely be available from the LFS website so they can spark the casual visitor's interest. The ingame solution is open to debate though :/

Quote from the_angry_angel :

Off Topic:
I'm sorry , but I disagree. The devs do care about PR.

I agree with your disagreeance It would be fatal for any company to discard marketing as something that doesn't in any way relate to their product. If there's no marketing at all, there's no sales. Nobody will know about your product, nobody will be attracted to it.
I think, giving LFS a little polish is THE way to go to increase sales and help the devs making up a living from it.
I'm not mainly thinking of the devs' wallets though. I just think that good software and innovative development methods should receive the credit they deserve. And I think that LFS doesn't use its full potential at the moment. It has a lot of appeal and it has the potential to be presented. There's just the need for someone to do it.
That's why I wish the devs will have an open ear/mind on this

Quote :

I agree with your disagreeance

Wooo! I feel so proud - I actually got something right [today]